


From The Heart

by ritaskeetre



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marauders' Era, james and lily are, scorpius and albus are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ritaskeetre/pseuds/ritaskeetre
Summary: Lily and James through their years at Hogwarts as their relationship grows. The story is told by Albus to Scorpius, and through Lily and James' love story, they realize what they really mean to each other.





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story starts off with Albus and Scorpius, next chapter is the marauder's first year! Enjoy!

 

Albus marched purposefully into his dorm. Scorpius had been in there with the curtains pulled around his four-poster since he had left the Great Hall early the night before. Albus wasn’t about to let his friend stay in there _all_ day, moping about who-knows-what.

            “Scorpius?” Albus called, as he walked into the room. He yanked back the curtains to find Scorpius curled up in a ball, under a mountain of blankets and books. Scorpius groaned, reluctantly facing him, and Albus saw that his eyes were red. “Scorpius, what’s wrong? And what’s with all these books, even for you, this is excessive…” he trailed off, looking at the covers. “The Notebook...and….is that Romeo and Juliet?” Albus asked incredulously.

            “Rosebrokeupwithme…” Scorpius mumbled quickly.

            Albus felt his heart start to beat faster. “Oh, merlin. Sorry Scorpius.” Truth be told, Albus was perfectly fine with giving him his condolences, letting him cry a bit, and then having him stay _far_ away from Rose. She was his cousin, but he had no bloody idea why Scorpius was so hung up on her. Not to mention the whole fancying him bit. So, he would have to help his, his best-friend-who-he-sometimes-hugs get his bloody girlfriend back.

If Albus knew one thing about Scorpius, it was that he was a nerdy romantic. Appealing to this was a foolproof way to get him back on track.

Albus sat down on the bed and began, “But this doesn’t mean you’re gonna give up on her, right?”

Scorpius looked back up, miserably. “Well, what am I _supposed_ to do?”

“Chase after her!” Albus exclaimed.

“I think-I think I’ll just stay right here. I have a toilet, chocolate frogs, and a comfortable bed. What else do I need?”

“Scorpius!” Albus said, shaking his head. “You can’t just stay here forever!”

“Well, actually, I kinda can…”

Albus rolled his eyes.  “You know how my dad brought home from work that portrait of Dumbledore?”

Scorpius looked at him suspiciously. “...yeah.”

“Well, er, I didn’t tell you about this, but I’ve been-I’ve been talking with him.”

“Wasn’t that for like, top-secret Ministry business? You’re allowed to go and talk to him?”

“Er-not technically, no. I snuck into my dad’s study over the holidays.”

Scorpius let out a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s brilliant! Dumbledore must know so much stuff about, well, _everything._ I wouldn’t even know what to ask him. What did he tell you?”

“First he told me something about wishing my dad hadn’t named me Albus and that he hoped I grew up nothing like him.” Albus muttured.

“How… encouraging.”

Albus laughed. “Yeah, I walked right out after that. Almost didn’t come back. But, I dunno, at the same time, I wanted to hear more.” Albus was suddenly conscious of the fact that Scorpius’ hand had never left his shoulder. “Er-anway, he’s been telling me stories about the old days, you know, the First Wizarding War. And…I asked him about my grandparents.”

Scorpius removed his arm from Albus and looked at him closely, causing Albus to blush more than if Scorpius had still been touching him.“Your dad doesn’t talk about them that much, right?”

“Yeah, I mean they died when he was kids and all….yeah, er, it turns out there’s _loads_ to talk about. They were like, the greatest romance that ever happened in this castle. So, I’m gonna tell you a story.” Without waiting for Scorpius’ response, he reached out for Scorpius’ wrist. Then he touched the tip of his wand to his head and began to murmur under his breath, “ _Relatus fabulam horoma, relatus fabulam horoma, relatus fabulam horoma…”_ As Albus repeated the enchantment, magic surged through the air and mist began to flow from the tip of Albus’ wand.  “Al!” Scorpius said, alarmed. “What the hell’s going on!?” And despite Scorpius holding tightly to a pole on his four-poster, their surroundings began to melt and morph until they were standing on a familiar train.

The train lurched, pulling out of the station, and Scorpius shook his head, trying to get his bearings.

“So, are we-- are we in the story?” He asked hesitantly, as he looked around.

Albus nodded, proudly. “I’m telling the story in my head, and the magic responds to my thoughts, playing it out in front of you.”

“Woah, Al.” Scorpius said, running his hand through his hair. “This-this is brilliant.” Albus looked down to hide his blush. “I was cross at you for dragging me from my comfy pity party, but this is bloody amazing! Where did you learn how to do it?”

Albus smirked. “Dumbledore taught me a thing or two."

"This is a complicated bit of magic, it must have taken _years_ to perfect! I was reading about something like this in the library the other day, it was a research paper by a man who spent his life-”

"I’d love to hear about this later, but if you keep talking about how brilliant it is, you’re gonna miss the story.” Albus grinned at him. “Look!” He pointed to a redheaded girl, running into the compartment next to them.

 

 

 

 


	2. First Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone interested in being a beta reader, message me! (tumblr or ffnet, same username)

When James first saw Lily, the boy didn’t understand what he was feeling, _thought Albus._ All he knew was that he wanted discredit the boy that was standing next to her.

So when the boy mentioned he’d like to be in Slytherin: “Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave,” James said, instinctively. And, in dismay, he watched as Lily left the compartment. “Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment.” she said. But the dismay hadn’t lasted long, because annoying Lily Evans was exactly what he’d mean to do, right?

A few months, some hair pulling, note intercepting, and causing general irritation of a certain redheaded girl later, James entered their potions class with a plan. “Sirius,” he whispered. “Do you think you could cause a sort of, er--”

            “Distraction?” Sirius interrupted him, smirking.

            James grinned. “Exactly.” If there was one thing Sirius Black could do consistently, without fail, it was causing mayhem.

So, 15 minutes into potions class, the large explosion in the middle of room was rather hard to miss. This particular cauldron was full of a nasty substance called Garotting Gas. As the gas filled the room, people began hacking and choking, and Professor Slughorn began frantically ushering people out of the room. James gave a thumbs-up to Sirius who had already escaped the room, and turned to look for Severus in the frenzy. James had always been above average when it came to magic, and after locating Severus-despite being a first year-he sent a semi-successful Color Change Charm in his direction. When the gas was expelled from the room, Professor Slughorn beckoned people back into the classroom. As students filed back into the room, the noise died down, and returned to to the usual quiet murmuring.

“Oy, Evans!” James called out into the silence. “I didn’t know people got matching hair with their boyfriends.” The whole class turned to look in the direction of Lily and Severus. Indeed, their hair was the almost the same shade of dark red, and with Severus being in dire need of a haircut, and Lily’s hair resting around her shoulders, the resemblance was striking. James high-fived Sirius, and with the room erupting in laughter, no one noticed Lily flicking her wand discreetly in James’ direction, nor did anyone notice what happened when the spell reached its destination.

Lily stood up, her eyes blazing. “Oh, well I suppose you and Sirius didn’t get the memo on that one, but at least you’ve got the clothes down.”

The bell rung, ending the class, as everyone saw that James’ outfit had been changed to match Sirius, who had completely disregarded dress code and had shown up to class with jeans and a leather jacket.

Abashed, James turned his clothing back into the Hogwarts uniform, and shouted after Lily as she exited the class with Severus, whose hair had likewise returned to its original state, “Nice one, Evans.”

Without looking back, she snapped vehemently, “Unlike you, Potter.”

“To be honest, mate,” Sirius started, clapping James on the back. “I reckon I agree with Evans. That was uncalled for, and what’s really getting at me is that it was a bloody awful prank! But now that she’s insulted us, I’m helping you brush up on your pranking skills, as that was a clear declaration of war. It’s showtime.”

 

_“Nooooo, James!” Scorpius groaned. “You idiot, you like her.”_

_“Well don’t worry, my very existence is proof that he figures it out.”_

         

   Unsurprisingly, by the time they arrived in potions class the next day, James had not quite figured it out.

            “Remus, c’mon mate.” James said, pleadingly.

            “I’m not helping you with this absurd fight.” Remus stated, exasperated.

            “All I need you to do is sit up there with me so Evans won’t get all suspicious.” The two boys watched as Lily and Severus plopped down at a table near the front of the room.

            “Er, I think if _you’re_ sitting next to me, she’ll get the hint.”

            “Well if I’m partnered up with Sirius, she’ll just move!” James replied.

            “Oh, all right. I’ll do it,” Remus began, “but you’re sneaking me back loads of chocolate next time we go down to the kitchens.”

            James agreed to the terms, and he and Remus took their seats at the table next to Lily and Severus, who were already hard at work. Remus acting as a buffer, the class went on without any altercations between the two sets of partners, each working quietly on their Cure for Boils.

            “Good work, everybody.” Slughorn told the class, as it neared the end. “I’m coming around to collect your work.” Slughorn stood up and flicked his wand, causing flasks to rise off the shelves and trail him around the room. He approached Lily’s table and uncorked the nearest flask, beginning to pour her potion into it. Although Lily and Severus had brewed the potion perfectly, the spoonful of Exploding Ginger Eyelash that James had snuck in excited the Shrake spines. Much to James’ delight, and expectation, the addition caused it to promptly explode as soon as Slughorn tipped the potion into the flask. Lily’s face turned bright red, and she looked on in horror as the potion caused Slughorn to erupt in boils.

            “I’m-quite disappointed in you, Miss Evans.” Slughorn managed, as he rushed out of the classroom, headed to Madame Pomfrey. The students were left alone, staring at Lily. She hurried out of the classroom and the students exploded with laughter, as kids often do when encountered with an uncomfortable situation.

            “Now _that’s_ what I call a prank!” Sirius was sauntering up to them, a look of pride on his face. “Nice job Remus, didn’t think you had it in you.”

            “You say that like it’s an insult.” Peter said, coming up behind him.

            “Well it is!”

            Shaking his head, Remus looked over at James. “Lily’ll be back to get you, just you wait.”     

            “Er, yeah.” James said absent mindedly, not paying attention the conversation. “Sure. I’m gonna bring Evans’ things to her. She left them here.”

            “That’s not a good idea-” Remus began, but James was already walking out.

James walked down the corridor towards the Transfiguration classroom, planning to return the bag to Lily in the next class, only to see her walking out of the girl’s lavatory.

“Oi, Evans! Wait up.” Lily turned around to see who it was; her eyes flashed and then she turned on her heel. “Hold on, Evans, I’ve got your things!” When she didn’t stop, James began to hurry after her. “Merlin,” he called. “What’s gotten into _you?_ ”

At that, Lily whipped around. “Like you don’t know!” She said sarcastically. “Oh don’t play innocent with me, Potter! I know it was you who messed up my potion.”

“I thought you could take a joke!” James exclaimed, defensively.

“ _Shut it._ Save it for someone who cares.” Lily snapped. “Do you know how hard all this is? I’ve been raised without magic _my entire life!_ You come from a pureblood family, if you have trouble or you make a mistake, you can pass it off as a joke because you’re James bloody Potter!” Lily was yelling now. “I hear what people say behind my back, Potter. When I messed up in Charms the other day, they said it was because of my parents, because I’m not really a witch, **because I’m a mudblood!**!” James flinched at the word. “ **And now you’ve taken the _one_ class I’m good at, and made me look like a complete idiot. I _hate_ you Potter, now leave me alone!” **

James was speechless for a few moments. “Lily, I’m so sorry, I-I had no idea. What those people say, they’re wrong. It doesn’t matter whether you’re born-”

“I bloody well know that, Potter.” Students began to fill the corridor, making their way to class.

James brushed his hand through his hair. “I, er, right. Of course you do. I just meant-er-I just meant that I’m sorry.” Lily nodded sharply in response-not ready to forgive-took her bag from where James had dropped it, and slid into a seat as Transfiguration started. James quickly slipped in the room while Professor Mcgonagall was busy returning assignments to the class.

“How’d it go with Evans?” Sirius asked. “I bet Remus a galleon that she’d hex you.”

“Quiet down, she’s right in front of us. And no, she did not hex me!” James answered indignantly.

“Fine, then while you were busy _returning her books_ , I put the second part of our plan in action.” Sirius said, grinning.

James looked up in horror to see that Mcgonagall was right at Lily’s desk. “Shit! Sirius, we have to stop it!”

 

_"Oh James.” Scorpius sighed. “You dysfunctional mess. Al, I can’t watch this, tell me it ends up okay.”_

_“Define okay.”_

_“Albus!” Scorpius playfully wrapped his arms around the other boy’s shoulders.“If James doesn’t get his act together then you won’t be born. I need you!” Scorpius’ face was resting on his shoulder, his face an inch away from his own, and Albus thought he might explode._

_Albus nervously patted his friend on the back. “Er, yeah. The guy gets the girl. It’s all fine, just some minor embarrassment.” he said, stiffly._

_Scorpius detached himself from Albus. “Okay, if you say so.”_

 

“Ah, bad luck mate, looks like it’s a bit too late for that.” Sirius said, grimly. The two watched as Lily received her assignment, and they both saw first the shock in her eyes, and then the anger as she whipped around to look at them.

“It was an accident!” James said quickly, shifting uneasily in his seat.

“How could was _this,_ be an accident?” Lily snarled, holding up a piece of parchment and shoving it towards them. Instead of an essay on the functions of the Reparifarge spell, there was a crude drawing of Professor Mcgonagall drawn in red ink. At the top of the parchment, the words “Detention, 8pm with Filch” were written in neat cursive.

“No, look I can explain. I had this planned before, you know, we talked, and I meant to switch your essay back in! Honestly, Lily I-”

“Only my friend gets to call me that. Go back to Evans.” She said coldly, before promptly punching him in the face. James yelped, as he was knocked back in his chair.

“Merlin!” James groaned.

Sirius let out a whoop. “Alright, Lily!”

            “Yeah, I remember saying a few seconds ago that that’s just for-”

James interrupted her. “Oh right, your friend like Snivellus over there? He’s a Slytherin, _Evans_ , use your brain. I know you’ve got one, your essay was rather good, actually.” James winked. “You really think he’s not talking behind your back-”

“ _How dare you._ ” Lily growled. James woke up in the hospital wing with a black eye as Remus explained that he had been petrified.

And thus, James and Lily’s relationship turned from barely tolerable acquaintances to that of enmity. James wasn’t quite sure what made him want to upset Lily, although for now he would blame it on the black eye. As the years went on, he would realize it was because he fancied her. But James was 11 and by the summer holidays, he told himself it was because all the other girls fancied him, so she was the only one that he could have some fun with. And maybe there was some truth to this. But whatever it was, first year went on with the Marauders pranking Lily, and with Lily responding in the only way she could: with even wittier and harsher retaliations that never failed to bring James down a notch. But only for a while. He would get right back up, arrogant as ever, and come up with an even better way to annoy the ever reluctant Lily Evans.

 

 


	3. Second Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while writing this chapter, I realized that "merlin's balls" is not a phrase used in the books but it's used in every fic and I think that's wonderful.

 

James watched as Lily talked animatedly with a third  year boy named Amos Diggory.

“Mate, you do realize you’re acting a bit stalkerish, right?” asked Remus, who had slipped behind the same tree that James was hiding behind.

“Bugger off.” James said, brushing him off. “I’m just waiting for the right time to push Evans into the Great Lake.”

Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You sure it’s not because you’re jealous of Diggory over there?”

“Are you mad? Why would I be jealous of him?”

Remus merely rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, James.” A girl’s laughter cut through what James had been about say, and the two boys looked over to see Lily laughing at something that Amos had said. James’ fists balled. He darted towards them, and Lily was in the water within three seconds flat.

“Potter!” she shouted, her anger boiling. “Can’t you just leave me **alone**? Aguamenti!” A large jet of water blasted from her wand, hitting James forcefully in the stomach. The water engulfed him, lifted him up into the air, and followed Lily’s wand movement, flinging him this way and that. After a few moments of this spectacle, Lily directed the jet of water to throw him into the middle of the Great Lake. She marched out of the water and stormed towards the castle, leaving Amos gaping, looking at James and then back at Lily.

_“I love Lily.” Scorpius sighed._

_“Yeah, Scorpius.” Albus said. “That’s sorta the point.”_

_Scorpius blinked. “It is?”_

_“Yes! Now let me finish this.”_

            James began swimming through the lake, and when he got to the shore he was exhausted. Sirius and Remus pulled him back up while Peter performed a quick Hot-Air Charm to dry James’ clothes.

Through rugged breaths, James showed as much bravado as he could muster. “That could have gone better. What do we do next?” Peter rolled his eyes at his friend’s apparent confidence and his refusal to back down. Really, rolling his eyes was the most he could do, because there was no stopping James.

            In a few weeks time, what The Marauders-or James with a bit of his friend’s help-would do, became quite clear. Having mastered the art of getting into the girl’s dormitory despite the slide preventing boys to do so many months ago, James easily slipped in during breakfast and placed a note on Lily’s pillow. The note said, “Meet me in the library after dinner. Back left corner. -A. D.”

            Leaving dinner early, James waited under his invisibility cloak in the corner of the library as quietly as could. He heard the library door creak open, and through the bookshelves he saw a girl with red hair slip through it. As Lily walked towards the table, James slowed down his breathing so as not to alert her to his presence. In another part of the castle, Sirius was busy spreading the rumour that Dumbledore was in the libraray trying to fire Professor Mimbleton. Apparently, Mimbleton was adamantly insisting that his ancestors had made a deal with the centaurs saying that his family could never be removed from Hogwarts against their wishes.  No one got a chance to hear this because they had already turned and were flocking towards the library as soon as Sirius Black had said the words “Dumbledore is in the library, trying-”. Both Sirius and Dumbledore had quite the reputation.

            As it was, when Lily Evans approached what appeared to be an empty table and was accosted by James Potter pouring a large bucket of dragon dung on her head, a flood of students were there to see it all unfold.

            Lily was shocked-as she was imagining a sort of romantic tryst-but her shock most definitely did not silence her. “James, bloody, Potter!” Giggles and laughter bounced around the room, and that was when Lily turned around to see that she had an audience. If she was angry before, now she was absolutely livid. Lily turned towards him, her eyes cold and her arms crossed. “Classy, Potter. Real classy.” she fumed. “You just don’t know when to quit. If I held up a bright red stop sign in front of your face, you would just go faster and bash right through it, wouldn’t you?” Lily took out her wand and pointed it at James. “Petrificus totalus.” James’ body became rigid and fell to the floor. “Maybe now for once you’ll give it a bloody rest!” With that, Lily turned and walked out of the library, her friend Marlene on her heels. Marlene whispered something in her ear, and Lily blushed. Taking out her wand, she muttered, “Scourgify.” and the dragon dung vanished from her body. The crowd began to thin, and if it were anyone but James, complete in his own humiliation, he would have quietly gone back to his room and would have been embarrassed into silence.

But, it **was** James, and when Remus lifted Lily’s spell, James got back to his feet and said, “She’s good, but mate, we’re better.” The pranks were not over. Oh, no they were not.

But James’ preoccupation with Lily wasn’t the only thing that happened that year. Halfway through the year, Remus Lupin’s friends realized he was a werewolf.

It happened after Remus had left Hogwarts on a Friday night, saying that he was visiting his mum at St. Mungos.

Sirius, James, and Peter were in their dorm and had just turned of the lights.“So,” Sirius began nervously, “Er, I was thinking-”

“Well that’s a first.” Peter interrupted, flippantly.  

Sirius threw his pillow at Peter.  “I’ll have you know I got an O on my Transfiguration essay.” He paused. “Well I suppose that’s just because Minne loves me.”

James and Peter laughed at the thought. “ _Right,_ Sirius Orion Black, every teacher’s pet.” James replied, sarcastically. The three boys all burst into laughter, and as it died down, an awkward quiet hung in the air.

“Anyways… ” Sirius said into the silence. “… as I was saying, er, I was wondering what you thought about-well, about Remus.” No one responded. “I mean, all those times he visits his mum, don’t you think it’s a bit, er, _odd?”_

“His mum’s sick, of course he’d want to visit her.” James said slowly. He had his suspicions, but he didn’t want to go ahead and say one of his best friends was a werewolf. “But yeah, his visits are very...consistent.”

“I see what you mean.” Peter said, looking at them. “But I suppose it makes sense. He doesn’t talk about her much, but if his mum’s quite sick, he might want to visit her, er, once a month.”

“Right,” Sirius began, “but why always on the-”

“ _Full moon.”_ James and Sirius said together. The boys were now all sitting up in their beds.

“Merlin,” Peter exclaimed. “I’ve been hoping one of us would finally say it since the beginning of the term.”

James replied, “Well, now it raises the question of what to do about it.”

“We’ve got to tell him that we know.” Sirius states.

So when Remus returned while the rest of the school was having dinner in the Great Hall, he found a note on his pillow. Now as much as the three boys cared about Remus, they were still 12 year old boys, and hadn’t yet mastered the art of tact or empathy. All the note said was, “We know about your furry little problem.”

When they came back from dinner, they found Remus packing his trunk in a rush.  Remus heard the door open and recoiled.

“Hey, Remus-” James started, but was interrupted,

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving.” Remus said hurriedly. “I’ve already started packing my things, I’ll be out in a few minutes, I’ll ask to be switched to a different room, I understand-

“Are you mad _?”_ Sirius exclaimed, incredulously. “We don’t want you to _leave!_ ”

“You-you don’t?”

“Mate, we don’t care if you’re a werewolf.” Remus flinched. “We’re your friends.” James said.

“You really think we would care about something like that?” Peter asked him.

“Well, most people do…”

“They’re idiots.” Sirius declared. “You’re a better person than they’ll ever be if they think that being a werewolf makes you less than them.” Remus looked at him, not knowing what to say. “Oh, and here’s some chocolate we brought from the kitchens.” He grinned at Remus and tossed him a handful of chocolate frogs.

“Thank you.” Remus said quietly. The boys fell quiet as he shifted awkwardly next to his half packed trunk.

James broke the silence. “It would be easier, your transformations, if we were there with you, right-”

“No!” Remus yelled. “James! That’s way too dangerous, you can’t be anywhere _near_ me!”

“We wouldn’t be going as ourselves, mate.” Remus stared at Sirius in confusion. “We’re becoming animagi.” Sirius clarified, as though it were a reasonable goal for three second year students.

“How on _earth_ are you going to do that?” Remus asked quizzically.

“Those two have a plan.” Peter replied. “Which of course will go flawlessly.”

Peter’s sarcasm was not missed by Sirius or James, and James responded indignantly, “It’s brilliant! What could go wrong?”

He would soon find out.

It was Sunday, and the plan commenced as soon they had woken up. Sirius and Peter entered the library, both armed with overly large bags and _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2._ Sitting down at a table at the back of the library, they sat their books down and made as if to be studying.

James was hiding behind a bookshelf, near to where Madam Pince was sitting and other students were hard at work, so that the distraction would be most effective. James let off 7 Dr. Filibusters Fireworks, as Sirius and Peter ran towards the Restricted Section, locating the books mentioning Animagi and shoving them into their large bags.

_“Hang on,” Scorpius said. “Didn’t your dad’s dad give him the invisibility cloak? Why didn’t they just use that?”_

_Albus’ face darkened. “Yeah well, James hadn’t gotten it from his father yet.”_

_“Why are you-oh. Right, er, sorry.” Albus turned away from him. “Just because your dad didn’t give you the cloak, doesn’t mean.....look, Al, he’ll come round.” Scorpius put his hand on Albus’ shoulder, looking at him softly. “If he doesn’t see how incredible you are, then he’s missing out.” Colour rose to Albus’ cheeks and he was now very glad that he had looked away._

_“Right, er-thanks.” he managed to get out._

            Unfortunately for James, while he had been setting up the fireworks behind a shelf, a girl was heading towards that same bookshelf, and found herself looking at him right as he let them off.

            “Potter!” James whipped around to find himself face to face with the one and only Lily Evans.  

            “Merlin’s balls.” James muttered.

            “In the _library_? How thick _are_ you?” She asked scathingly. “The prefects spend all their time here! You really thought you wouldn’t get caught?”

“Didn’t really think about it. Well, best be off!” James started to walk away when suddenly Lily was dragging him by the collar and around the bookshelf, stopping in front of Madam Pince.

“Potter’s the one who let the fireworks off.” Lily announced.

“Detention, Potter. Mcgonagall’s office, tonight.”

James pushed Lily off of him, glaring at her. “Oh that’s just brilliant! _Bloody brilliant!_ Can’t you just lay off the rules for one minute Evans? Why do you have have that stick up your arse?” he shouted.

“Quiet in the library!” Madam Pince hissed. “That’s one month detention now, Potter.”

“One _month?_ ” James yelped. “Come on Pince, you know you love me.”

“Out! Now!” Giving one last glare at Lily, he sauntered out of the room.

Lily slumped down at her table next to her friend, Marlene. “Look at that! He walks out of the room like he’s proud about something. He just got a months worth of detentions! That bloody _prat_.”

The prat in question returned to his room, Sirius and Peter quick on his heels.

            Remus sat up from where he was studying, looking worried.

            “Don’t worry Remus, it all went according to plan.” Sirius said. “We got loads of books, James got a month of detention, what more could you want?”

            “A month?” Remus asked anxiously. “Oh Merlin, James, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you do this, or I should have at least come to make sure-”

            “None of this is your fault, Remus! You didn’t do anything to deserve this.” Sirius said. “And we told you, if you come and something goes wrong, there’ll just be more trouble for you.”

“I know, but-”

“He’s right.” James put in. “And this is Evan’s fault, we’re gonna make her pay.”

And second year went on like this, and by the end of it, there was not a student or teacher who doubted that James Potter and Lily Evans’ rivalry would continue through their years at Hogwarts. Nor was their a creature on the grounds who doubted the fact that James Potter fancied Lily Evans. And, as second year came to a close, there were two exceptions; James Potter and Lily Evans themselves.

 

 


End file.
